best viewed large....... oh, actually, maybe not because then you can see how mud-caked the donks are at the moment.
Got a phonecall from one of my close neighbours to let me know that her garden was full of hounds from the hunt which had met on the outskirts of our village. Graham was out collecting hay and straw. He had gone earlier than usual so he could be around when they were likely to invade our land but unfortunately he missed them. So I grabbed my camera and went up into the donks' field. The hounds had obviously all been through because the donks and goats were on high alert and all came rushing over to me as soon as they saw me. Lilly was actually shaking.
It does make me smile the way they do this. It's almost as if they are thinking, 'Oh here she is, she'll save us,' just like they did when the burglars left their field gate open in January and they all escaped and ended up in an open field about a quarter of a mile away. It was like 'OK, we've escaped, but we don't know what to do now.'
So, I did a bit of standing around in my best 'get offa my land' stance while the hunt rampaged/trespassed through our next door neighbours' land (got the incriminating photos) and then onto some more hunt-friendly land. The whole thing was being watched by the hunt followers from the opposite side of the valley, and it did cross my mind that I must look a bit odd standing in the middle of our field surrounded by donks and goats which were all jostling to get as close to me as they could.
I took this shot when things started to die down a bit. Angus and Cashew (the goat) are heading towards the stables in the hunt for food, but Jack and Lilly are still looking and listening for the dogs and horses which were retreating over the top of the hill on the opposite side of the valley. Joey boy was about an inch away from me. I think the others see me as their protector, but he sees himself as mine.
Beautiful Donks once again -I do love to see them Such a shame that the heartless hunt trespass & frighten innocent animals like Lilly & Co / Lovely capture Jan and so much better with the accompanying story
Outrageous!! I don't let my one dog go rampaging through private land (well not unless we have a 'Fenton' moment). Poor donks must have thought the world was coming to an end. Good to know that you have a protector if required. PS living in flatland hell I am so jealous of your hills!
You can really tell something is going on from their stance and ears. Do the hunt people just not give a darn for private lands? Sounds ridiculous that they an do that, it must really tear things up. Glad you have a protector.
This is a beautiful scene but it's a shame you were able to take it really, I can only imagine how infuriating it must be, this problem you have with the hunt. I know how I'd feel if it was my land and my animals.
I am not anti hunt but I know full well that we would have been very upset if the hunt had ridden across our fields in full flight churning everything up!! We have a hunt just to the north of us & they seem to go anywhere they like...probably not true but seems like it.
Love the way the 'donks' ears are completely upright, what dear little faces they have Jan.
Lovely composition. I found a lost fox hound last week, apparently they are always losing their hounds. He was rather lovely and very soppy but can't be kept as pets as they are pack animals. Fav
@lynnb the trespass laws here are very weak, and sadly most of the people who make those laws are from the part of society that is the most pro-hunting. Usually the excuse is that the dogs ended up on your land and there was nothing that the hunters could do about it. Hunting foxes with dogs is actually illegal in this country now, but they just pretend that they weren't after foxes but the dogs just happened to catch the scent of one, so what could the humans do.......blah, blah, blah?
@dh There wasn't much damage, but I saw a couple of men on foot walking through their land. Not sure how thrilled they would have been people were rampaging through their garden.
@lucypics The hunt don't care about the individual dogs at all. The first time we had them on our land one dog got completely lost and disorientated and separated from the rest. It had a massive gash on its face (could have done with your husband's skills I reckon!) and massive scars all over its body where it had been caught on barbed wire. They just stitch them up, and if the damage is too much, put them down.
There is a guy in our village who is involved with beagle hunting. I get on really well with him tho we disagree about the ethics of hunting. He takes on the beagles that are no good for hunting any more and keeps them as pets. They are lovely and although they have only lived as part of a pack they adapt really quickly and are almost immediately house-trained.
Love the way the 'donks' ears are completely upright, what dear little faces they have Jan.
@dh There wasn't much damage, but I saw a couple of men on foot walking through their land. Not sure how thrilled they would have been people were rampaging through their garden.
@lucypics The hunt don't care about the individual dogs at all. The first time we had them on our land one dog got completely lost and disorientated and separated from the rest. It had a massive gash on its face (could have done with your husband's skills I reckon!) and massive scars all over its body where it had been caught on barbed wire. They just stitch them up, and if the damage is too much, put them down.
I did take a pic of it but my hands were shaking so much it was rubbish:
http://365project.org/jantan/other-stuff/2012-02-15
There is a guy in our village who is involved with beagle hunting. I get on really well with him tho we disagree about the ethics of hunting. He takes on the beagles that are no good for hunting any more and keeps them as pets. They are lovely and although they have only lived as part of a pack they adapt really quickly and are almost immediately house-trained.